Koscielny: Teammate I’m concerned about

Laurent Koscielny has revealed that his colleague Olivier Giroud is once again in an uncertain state in his Arsenal career.

At the beginning of last season, the French striker found himself on the bench as Theo Walcott was chosen as the man to lead Arsenal’s attack.

Giroud managed to regain his place in the team as the season grew but the former Montpellier star has found himself in the same situation again this term with Alexis Sanchez being preferred to play upfront.

The signing of Lucas Perez has added more competition in that department and Koscielny has suggested that Giroud is not enjoying his time out of the starting eleven.

“We returned late after Euro 2016, so we had to do more [in training] to be ready physically,” Koscielny told reporters

“There is competition up front at Arsenal and Alexis Sanchez is walking on water right now, so it’s difficult to remove him from the starting XI.

“I know Olivier and he has seen more difficult things during his career. We know his mental strength and the season is very long.

“He will have the opportunity to be back and give his answer on the pitch.”